Valve for laundry machine



Jan. 21, 1958 Filed lieb. 1, 1954 c. s. sHiELDs VALVE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 c4521. s. sH/fl. as

' Jan. 21,195.8 l c.s. SHIELDS 2,820,476

VALVE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINE Filed Feb. 1, 1954 2 sheets-sheet 2 f INV/Nam (ARL '5. SAV/ELOS United States Patent VALVE ron LAUNDRY cans. shields, cievelanaohio Original application September 20, `1950, Serial No. 185,711, now'PatentNo. 2,729,961, dated January 10, 1956. Divided andthis application February 1,. 1954, Serial' No.- 407,219

Claims. (Cl. 137-563) This invention relatesl to apparatus for laundry machines and, more particularly, to a ow regulating valve.

This application is a division of my application, Serial` No. 185,711', led September 20, 1950, now Patent No; 2,729,961, granted l an. 10, 1956.

An object of the invention is to providea valve for controlling the rate of solvent ow from the tub of a laundry machine to a storage tank positioned below theA tub.

An object of the invention is to provide a flow regulating valve which may be operated by an automatic electrical control system.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch valve'which may be adjusted to regulate uid ow through the valve and which may be unlatched `from a remote point.

There is disclosed in. the above-referenced application, of which this application forms` a division, a laundry machine in which the cleaning solvent is. continuously circulated from a reservoir through a iilter and tov the tub of the machine and back to the. reservoir.. The tub of the machine is positioned above, the reservoir, and the solvent return is` made by means` of a. drain system whichincludes` a valve for controlling the rate at. which` the. solvent is. drained from the tub. A. constant rate pump is, employed for pumping the solvent from the reservoir into. thev tub is determined. by the adjustment ofthe valve.

The present application is concerned with the flow regulating valve of the laundry machine. The valve, in its novel aspects, incorporates a latch holding mechanism for maintaining the valve in an open ,position and an adjusting mechanismv for the latch4 to enable control of the lrate of solvent flow through the valve. Anelectric solenoid is adapted, whenenergized, to lift the valvernember of thevalve andV deect the latch member so as to permit Vthe valve member to lfall into a closed position upon de'energization of--t'hesolenoid. In another aspect, the valve is so design-ed and constructed that the inlet portion. of the valve is disposed above the outlet portion so that fthe k valve is 's'elfdraining 'Other objects, 'features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from a consideration of the following detailed specification taken in connecltion with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a schematic representation of a portion of the laundry machine of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the valve and the control mechanism therefor;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the valve taken in the direction 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view taken Fig. 2.

Referring now to Fig. invention incorporates a in the direction 4-4 in 1, the laundry machine of the laundry tub 10, a reservoir 11,

a pump 12 and a solvent filter 13. The pump 12 con- "f'fti'uually draws solvent from the reservoir 11 and forces so that the level of solventv inthe tubl mice 2 it 'through tlreiilter '13 and into thetub y10'. A'valve 14 in a drain pipe *15: regulates the return ow ofthe solvent'v from the tub 10 through a'button'trap 16 and into the reservoir 11'.

The valve 14 comprisesfa' valve' bo'dy 17' having an inlet opening 1S and an outlet opening 19. Thevalve body 17 maybe formedias aninte'gral part ofthe casing 20 of the button trap' 1'6 so that'theoutlet opening'19 opens directly intov the' button trap. Such an arrange ment is, however, not essential to the practice ofthe invention.

The' inlet portion of the valve body 17, which includes the inlet opening 18', is separated from the outlet portion ofk thev'alve body 17, which includes the outlet opening 19, by a horizontal partiti'oumem'ber V21. A valve opening 22 permits solvent flow from the inlet18 to the outlet opening 19, the vertical arrange-.mentv of the inlet and outlet portions being such that the valve is selfdraining.

The valve opening'22 is closed by a valve member 23 which cooperates with a valve seat 24 supported by the horizontal partition member 21. The valve member 23 is supported by a valve stem 25 which is adapted to reciprocate the val've member in a vertical direction. The Valve stem passes vertically through a valve head 26 which. is mounted at the top of the valve body 17. A central portion 27` of the valve head is recessed to receive a packing (not shown) which is held in position byV a cap 28.

A solenoid 29' has the stator 3'0 thereof supported by two piers 31 and 32 which form a part of the valve head 2S. The. armature 33 of the solenoid 29 is connected. at its lower end to the upper end of the valve stem 25 and atits upper end to a lever 34. The lever 34 is pivoted at its outer end on a link 35 which is supported from the upper end of the solenoid stator by an arm 36. A coil 37 of the solenoid 28 is adapted to be connected to suitable automatic control circuits which. form a part of the laundry machine.

The lever 34 is adapted to be held by a latch memberV 38 which is mounted on a side panel 39 of the laundry machine by means of an adjustable support 40. The adjustable support 40 comprises a block 41 which isiixed to ther panel 39' ofthe laundry machine by two screws adjusting bolt 44 which is received in an opening which extends vertically through the block. 41. An adjusting screw 45 is held in an opening 46 in the block 41 and bears against the block to position the adjusting bolt 44 in a verticalV direction upon rotation of. the screwV 45. An elongatedopening 47 in the side 39 of the laundry machine permits adjustment of. the screw 45= by the operator of lthe machine.

rThe latch member 38 is supported by a single. screw- 48V which extends through a slot 49 in the side wall"39 into the block 50 at the top of the adjusting bolt 44. The member 38 may rotate freely on the bolt 48 and normally hangs downward from the bolt, except when held in an upright position. The outer end of the lever 34 rests upon an ear 51 which projects from the body of the member so that the member 38 and the lever 34 mutually support each other. A deflecting piece 52 extends from the body of the member 38 transversely above the lever 34 so that the member 38 is deflected to the left and out of the locking position when the lever 34 is lifted.

1n operation, the valve member 23 is moved into an open position by lifting the handle 54 of the lever 34. The lever 34 is locked in an open position by bringing the latch member 38 into a locking position with the projection 51 under and supporting the arm. The adjust ing screw 45 is then positioned to adjust the valve member 23 for the desired rate of ow through the valve opening 22.

Upon termination of the particular dry cleaning operation, the solvent is drained from the tub by energizing the solenoid coil 37. Thereupon, the valve stem 25 is lifted to pull the valve member 23 to a wide-open position and the lever arm 34 is lifted to engage the deflecting member 52 and force the latch member 38 from the locking position. After the solvent is drained from the tub, the solenoid coil 37 is deenergized, and the valve member 23 is dropped into a closed position in engagement with the valve seat 24.

It will be seen that the arrangement of the valve mechanism is such as to enable precise control of the rate of solvent replacement in the tub while permitting a particularly simple method of automatically controlling the operation of the valve. Further, the design and construction of the valve is such that it may be incorporated as an integral part of the button trap 20, thus greatly reducing the cost of manufacturing these parts of the machine.

It is to be understood the specific nature of the present disclosure is not intended to be restrictive or contining and that various rearrangements of parts and modifications of design may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Valve means for use in dry cleaning apparatus comprising a valve body, valve closure means including a valve stem to regulate flow of solvent through said body, and means for actuating said valve closure means, said actuating means comprising a lever anchored at one end to the valve body and pivoted between its ends to the valve stem, latch mechanism for locking engagement with said lever to maintain the stem in an open position and means for releasing the latch mechanism upon upward movement of the lever, an adjustable support for said latch mechanism to regulate the open position of the stem, and a solenoid operatively associated with the valve stem for moving the stem upward to open the Valve and release said latch mechanism.

2. In a laundry machine comprising a laundry tub and a storage tank positioned below the tub and a drain pipe connecting the bottom of the tub with the storage tank, the combination of a ow regulating valve in the drain pipe comprising a valve body having the inlet and outlet thereof connected to the pipe, valve closure means including a valve stem and means for actuating the said Valve closure means including a lever attached to the valve stem, and an adjustable latch means comprising a latch member for holding the lever in an open position, a latch support and screw adjusting means for controlling the position of the closure means to regulate ow through the drain pipe, the latch member having a detlecting portion disposed above the lever engaging portion and a solenoid for raising the valve closure means and the lever to deflect the latch member and allow the closure means to drop into a closed position.

' means including a constant rate pump and 3. In a laundry machine comprising a laundry tub and a storage tank positioned below the tub and a drain pipe connecting the bottom of the tub with the storage tank, the combination of a ow regulating valve in the drain pipe comprising a valve body having an inlet portion and an outlet portion and an inlet and an outlet therefor connected to the pipe, and a horizontally disposed barrier between the inlet and outlet portions below the level of the inlet and above the level of the outlet and having a valve opening therein, valve closure means including a valve member adapted to colse the valve opening, a valve stem and means for actuating the said closure means including a lever operatively attached to the valve stem and an adjustable latch comprising a latch member engaged with the lever for holding the lever in an open position, a latch support and screw means mounted on the latch support and carrying the latch member for adjusting the position of the latch and closure means to regulate tlow through the drain pipe,y draining upon termination of fluid flow.

4. Automatic dry cleaning apparatus comprising a washing compartment with washer-extractor means for receiving and cleaning fabrics and the like, a reservoir for solvent liquid disposed below the washing compartment, a delivery line for moving solvent liquid from the reservoir to the washing compartment, a gravity return line for conducting solvent liquid from said compartment back to the reservoir, a valve in the return line, adjustment means operatively associated with the valve for regulating the rate of discharge of solvent liquid from the washing compartment with latch means for holding the valve at the adjusted position, with means for opening the valve to its full open position to release the latch and close the valve.

5. Valve means for use in dry cleaning apparatus and the like, comprising a valve body, valve closure means including a valve stem for regulating flow of solvent through the body, means for actuating the valve stem, a latch mechanism for locking engagement with the actuating means to maintain the stem in an open position and an adjustable support for the latch mechanism to regulate the open position of the stem, means for releasing the latch the valve stem and actuating means for moving the actuating means to release the latch mechanism.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mar. 27, 1883 the said valve being self-y mechanism upon movement of the ac-v tuating means and a solenoid operatively associated with 

